3 Biggest Takeaways From Mets Opening Weekend

3. Mets need JD Martinez’s Bat in the Lineup

To say the offense looked terrible for most of the weekend would be a severe understatement. In the season opener, the Mets were only able to garner one hit, via a Starling Marte home run. Game two of the series saw the Mets light up the scoreboard, racking up 6 runs on 12 hits. 12 hits and 6 runs is usually a recipe for a victory, but the Mets fell short because they left too many runners on base, batting just 2-6 with runners in scoring position leaving four RISP. 

The Mets have scored just eight runs in 27 innings of action and six of those came in one outing. Through three games, New York has a .273 batting average with runners in scoring position and that number drops to .250 with two outs. They have already left 17 runners on base with 8 RISP and it’s only the first week of April. 

Enter JD Martinez. Martinez is one of the best and most clutch hitters in all of baseball. Martinez enjoyed a nice bounce-back season with the Los Angeles Dodgers last season, batting .271 with 33 bombs and 103 ribbies in 113 games. He would’ve ranked second on the Mets in all three categories last year despite playing in far fewer games than the team leaders. More importantly, Martinez hit .325 with 10 home runs, 72 RBIs, and eight extra-base hits with runners in scoring position.

Having Jeff McNeil batting cleanup is criminal and Carlos Mendoza needs to be reprimanded for making such a terrible decision. The expectation is that once Martinez is done getting extra work in against minor leaguers, he will assume the role once he’s called up to the show. The Mets have struggled to generate runs and sorely need a player of Martinez’s ilk to bolster the lineup and torment opposing pitchers. 

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